E-12 Mathematics Resource Questions

Nancy Thul-Secondary Curriculum and Instruction Coordinator Eastern Carver County Schools-District 112 Summary of notes from phone interview: 1. What core program do you use for mathematics? Went through full secondary redesign and tried to eliminate all below grade level tracks by using interventions. There is basically one sequence for secondary math, but students can start at different ages. 6-Pre-Algebra with more #sense 7-Pre-Alg 8-Algebra I 9-Geometry 10-Alg II 11/12-FTS(Func.,Trig(light), Stats(Focus)) PreCalc Pre-College Math-Make sure they have solid base for college MSU College Algebra (College in the School) AP Calc AB/BC AP Stats 2 levels of Acceleration: Grade Above->MAP test 2 of last 3 tests in 90th Percentile or above. Look a little at MCAs. Also take CogAT. Grade Skip->all of the above and Iowa Alg. Aptitude in 6th grade to see if they can take Algebra I which puts them in 8th grade math. Very few in this level usually 10 have had as many as 30. Any higher than this they would be in UMTYMP. They use Mainly Prentice Hall but use some Holt in the middle school. They did have issues with service and quality with Holt. Teachers speak highly of Prentice Hall. 2. What have you found to be the pros and cons of your program and or resources? Holt has better supplements for struggling students, PH has better enrichment. Sequence:

3. Does your math program support your ELL students or do you use a separate math program for ELL students? 4. Does your math program meet the needs of your special education students by providing additional support or do you use another resource. If so which one and why? Have an additional Interventions class for ELL/SpEd/Unidentified struggling students taken as an elective. Looking for separate program for HS, but it has worked well in MS. MS uses Math Labs for each subject to get students extra help. 5. Does your math program have an Early Childhood component with it? If not what program does your Early Childhood program use? Houghton-Mifflin, but not too familiar with what they do. 6. Does the math program support the three Tiers of Response to Intervention Model (RTI)? Yes they have supports in place for struggling students. 7. Does the math Program support the framework of differentiation and enrichment? Not strong in differentiation but no curriculum out there is that good right now. 8. What is your district currently doing to help students of color increase achievement? Building specific plans if there is an issue, but very low population. Looking more at low income students. 9. Since using your math program what have been the results of your MCA assessments. MS has always done well, but since they have gotten rid of the low track in HS they have seen scores 20% above state average from right at state average previously.

E-12 Mathematics Resource Questions

Nancy Thul-Secondary Curriculum and Instruction Coordinator Eastern Carver County Schools-District 112 10. How is technology used in conjunction with your math program? Online textbook and tutorial videos with PH. Basically just the resources that come with the curriculum. 11. What kinds of technology do you have in your classrooms? (smartboards, computers, LCD projectors) Mounted LCD in every room and all math teachers have a tablet PC. 12. Do you provide a list of interventions for different math components that are provided for each grade? 13. What supports are in place for students who fail core course ( algebra 1) and how do you prepare them for the MCA? Algebra I in 8th grade and if they fail, they retake in 9th grade. Lower students do a two-year program much like we do. They are looking into how to deal with this, but originally took algebra I to 8th grade because of the standard change. Now looking into revision, but have found most 8th graders are ready for Algebra. 14. Does your curriculum provide opportunities for review/second scoop while still maintaining a forward pace? They try to spiral, but it is unrealistic with how many standards that need to be hit each year.